


Remove You From Yourself

by Cadalie



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-25
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-24 14:30:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/941088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cadalie/pseuds/Cadalie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Becoming Robin isn’t all learning to punch.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My knowledge of DC comics canon comes mostly from internet summaries and fics. However, the comic canon being the way it is, I'm sure it fits in some where. Still, apologies for any bad characterization.

One of the first things Bruce makes Dick do after he begins training to become Robin is relearn the English language. Dick already speaks English; English, Spanish, French, German cusses, and even some Rom. He speaks like everyone else he knows, an accent and slang that is unique to the circus. It is beautiful, and anyone who heard and knew enough could probably tell immediately that Dick had grown up in Haley’s Circus.  


As Robin, speaking in a way that could possibly allow for immediate identification would be disastrous. The secret must be kept, so Bruce makes him practice a Gotham accent because Dick is a child and a single slip of the tongue could destroy them just as easily as a slip of the mask. Eventually anything that could mark him as an outsider to Gotham has been completely excised from Dick’s vocabulary. Anyone who hears him speak might mistake him for a native son.  


By the time he moves to Bludhaven he can’t even speak with the accent he once shared with his parents.


	2. Chapter 2

For Jason, the hardest thing to master before he was allowed to go out as Robin was the fucking shoes. Not the detective shit, not the martial arts, not even the acrobatics. No, Jason, Robin doesn't move like that. No, Jason, it has to be better. No, Jason, it isn't okay to be fucking different from Dick fucking Grayson, you have to be just like the first Robin, never mind that the change between a near adult and a twelve year old is obvious. He could deal with all of that, but the shoes almost keep him stuck inside the batcave.  


Jason would never choose to wear them; even if they were free he probably would have chosen to go barefoot. In winter. Better to lose a toe to the cold than die because some idiot decided your shoes were that fucking bad. Hell, he might have beaten someone for wearing the shoes. Also, they are not easy to walk in. Maybe Dick “I’m an Acrobat” Grayson could, but not Jason Todd. He has to practice over and over again. Jason doesn't understand why Bruce won’t let him change them to something Jason can walk in.  


Actually, he does.  


The shoes are the hardest part of being Robin.


	3. Chapter 3

Tim is somewhat surprised when Batman starts teaching him how to be seen. After all, Batman exists only in the night, in shadows, in myths and legends from Gotham’s slums. Purposely being seen seems counterproductive, to say the least.  


Tim does not say a word of this to Bruce. Robin doesn't question Batman.  


(Later, when Dick hears Tim say that, he laughs so hard he cries. Tim still can't decide whether it was or was not bitter.)  


Batman does explain eventually, as much as Batman explains anything. He pushes Tim into a chair and has him watch security footage Oracle has whisked away from public cameras. He sees Robin - a real one, not like Tim - work. Every move is purposeful. Things that look like accidents, mistakes aren’t.  


Batman is a famous vigilante hero, yes, but he is first and foremost a detective. Easy to forget when he stands next to Superman.  


Knocking teeth from some goon’s head just opens his position for someone else; Gotham has plenty of desperate candidates to fill the ranks. Leaving things in the shadows will not change Gotham. Batman and Robin have to be seen because they have to show people, present evidence of crimes so that they can no longer ignore them. Place some candles in Gotham’s darkest corners.  


Timothy Drake never gets it quite right. Too much time spent observing Batman and Robin in secret. Too much time in a empty house where there was no one to see him.  


Tim doesn't get it right, but Robin does. Nothing else matters.


	4. Chapter 4

The main difference Damian finds between fighting as Damian Al-Ghul and Robin is the worry. It seems as though Grayson’s expression is always whenever he is looking at Damian and believes that Damian cannot see his expression.  


At first he believes that Grayson’s worry stems from the fear that, with the real Batman gone, Damian will return to using the deadly skills taught to him by the League of Assassins or learned under his mother’s tutelage.  


Later, he realizes that Grayson fully believes that Damian refrains from killing because Damian has come to understand that not killing is The Right Thing To Do, as opposed to the truth, which is that Damian does not kill because he is determined to inherit his father’s legacy in full, and his father’s rejection of Todd shows that further killings will likely remove Damian from the line of succession. There is, after all, absolutely no other reason for Damian to refrain from using his numerous skills to cause death.  


This realization causes Damian to hypothesis another cause, one that would be much more detrimental to Damian. Grayson may look at Damian with worry because he does not believe that Damian is a competent enough partner. It is an almost unthinkable idea, but Damian is forbidden from using a large number of his skills due to the aforementioned rule against killing. Also Grayson, quite frankly, is an idiot who often speaks with the impostor Drake of his own free will. It is possible for Grayson to come to the ludicrous conclusion that Damian is not competent.  


This theory is proven wrong as well. Grayson allows Damian to work on his own more and more, shows that he trusts and values Damian as a partner and still the look of worry remains.  


Finally Damian chooses to confront Grayson about it. Grayson looks surprised by Damian’s demand for answers and answers in an almost sad tone of voice.  


“I just worry that I’m not doing a good enough job taking care of you, Dami,” Grayson replies, “I’m sorry if I upset you. I see I’m going to have to teach you how to tell the difference between concern and lack of trust. It is going to involve hugs.”  


“Tt - worry is worry Grayson. How can anyone tell the difference...Tt - Get Off!.”  


A month after Father returns and Grayson leaves Damian cannot believe he ever could have mistaken one for the other.


	5. Chapter 5

Being Robin leaves Tim with no time. It wasn't like he was expecting Robin to be a hobby, but when he signed up he didn't realize just how much of his life it would consume.

It starts with training, of course. The detective part is actually (comparatively) easy; Tim has always been both logical and meticulous. A lot of what he still has to learn is just procedural.  


The physical stuff is harder. Batman teaches him how to punch, how to block, how to be a deadly weapon, and how to still not kill. Nightwing teaches him how to bend without breaking, how to land on a roof balanced perfectly, and how to fly. They expect him to get into good enough shape to do so on his own.

So Tim does. He lifts weights in secret, he stretches until he can contort his body without pain, and he runs until he pukes and then he runs more. Tim trains his body into a condition most people would consider perfect. Then Tim reports to Batman or Nightwing to learn how to be better.

Tim spent months on observation after he was finally allowed out as Robin. He had needed to learn to see Gotham and her children from a vigilante’s perspective, had needed to see Batman at work for a full night so that he could understand how Batman worked. Nightwing had even come to Gotham for a few nights so that Robin could see how they had worked together with the new understanding his training had given him.

Tim doesn't have hobbies anymore. The only pictures Tim takes now are surveillance shots. He learns to drive souped-up cars and bikes while his skateboard begins to look like a decoration in his room. He doesn't have time for his friends, so they don’t have time for him. 

Tim thinks he can understand Bruce Wayne's vacant expression now.


	6. Chapter 6

In Gotham, Batman and Robin aren’t heroes; they’re vigilantes. Stephanie never thought about the terminology, about the difference between the two before. She had always admired Batman and Robin, the work they did. Watching Batman with the Justice League and Robin with the Titans inspired her; it gave her hope because they were heroes and they were Gotham’s. They saved the world; they helped people.

When Stephanie became Spoiler she thought she was helping people. She assisted Batman and Robin, even if they didn’t exactly appreciate it. Becoming Robin taught her better. Outside of Gotham Batman and Robin might be heroes, but in Gotham they’re nightmares.

In Gotham, Batman and Robin might help people, but if they do it is mostly inadvertent. Batman and Robin punish criminals. They find people, through detective work or just on the street, and they pound them as close to death as they can without actually killing them.

It sends ice down Stephanie’s spine because she isn’t sure Batman even realizes it. In fact, Stephanie is almost positive that Batman really believes that they’re making a difference; that they’re making Gotham better.

It makes her angry, too, because who is Batman to tell her she isn’t good enough. Batman may find her lacking, but she doesn’t have to be impressed with him either. Stephanie has seen the plans on Batman’s computer; plans that could actually make a difference, strike at the gangs and organized crime.

Batman may think that she isn’t good enough to be Robin, but she’ll show him. Stephanie is going to make a difference in Gotham.


	7. Chapter 7

Damian cannot comprehend the reason Grayson has failed to address the situation. The most likely reason, of course, is the man's stunning incompetence. However, Grayson was trained by Damian's father, by the Batman. Even his natural inferiority cannot completely overshadow the Batman's training. It is possible that this is a test of some kind, a new way to gauge his worthiness for his birthright. 

Damian almost hopes that it is a test. If it is, passing it leads him another step closer to truly doing his father's work and to bringing Robin to new, glorious heights. He is the son of the Batman, and he will not fail.

First, though, he must do this. Nothing about him must be distinguishable as Robin. He cannot allow himself to be discovered due to something so simple. He is the son of the Batman. That is all that matters. It should not bother him - he has left mother and grandfather far behind him. He has a new, better legacy.

Damian steels himself and moves to bleach the al Ghul from his skin.


End file.
